Anytime
by life is short so am I
Summary: No matter what, his response would always be the same. Whenever she said thank you, his reply would always, always, be anytime. A series of drabbles wrapped up in a oneshot that lead up to Kakashi and Naruto getting together. Because I love this pairing and there just isn't enough of it.


Story: Anytime

Author: life is short so am I

Rating: T

Genre: Romance, humor, hurt/comfort and friendship

Warning: There is mention of some people who died in the war being alive. Also, lots of mentions about sex, but there is no act of sex anywhere in this fic (not that comfortable with it yet. I can read it at times, but I'm like, way out of my comfort zone here). I just hope nobody really young is reading this.

Pairings: Kakashi/Fem!Naruto, Sakura/Sasuke

Author's Note: Man, you guys, I'm so tired. It's exactly 1:14 as I'm writing this author's note, and I'm listening to Coldplay, and I really just want to finish this so I can finally go to sleep without bolting up going, "Aha! I just figured out what I have to do next! I have to write this down or else I'll forget it in the morning!" Does that ever happen to any of you? I hope you're satisfied with the ending, because I'm certainly not. And now it's 1:18.

Summary: No matter what, his response would always be the same. Whenever she said thank you, his reply would always, always, be anytime. A series of drabble like things that lead up to Kakashi and Naruto getting together. Because I love this pairing and there just isn't enough of it.

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine.

* * *

Naruto had never been good with feelings.

Most of the time, she shoved unidentifiable emotions down where they couldn't bother her. Sometimes she even imagined Kurama taking them away, hiding them so they wouldn't ever come to her attention again.

So she put on her happy front, and smiled at everything that garnered even the slightest bit of her attention.

Because even though all the villagers looked upon her with respect and had lauded her with the title of hero, the idea that she held ever since she was a child was still stuck in her head. What kind of fool looks upon their Hokage, a beautiful, smiling woman and thinks demon?

* * *

"Everybody's coupled up but us! Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme; Kiba-kun and Hinata-chan; Shikamaru-kun and Temari-chan; Tenten-chan and Neji; Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei; Iruka-nii and Crazy Snake Lady; Chouji-kun and Karui-chan; Shino-kun and that civilian girl whose name I can never remember; Lee-kun and Ayame-nee; Gai-sensei and Shizune-chan; Tsunade-baa and Ero-sennin; even Ino-chan and Sai which has to be, like, the weirdest pairing ever, but that's besides the point dattebayo!"

Naruto slammed her bottle of saké down on the bar table. She didn't much like the taste of it (orange juice was much better), and she couldn't get drunk (damn fox), but she liked having excuses to do stupid things, so nobody needed to know that.

"I am a hot young woman, I have a great personality, and I'm a powerful Kunoichi to boot! Men should be bowing at my feet! Oh, and you're not too bad either, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi, who had been sitting beside her on the bar stool trying to tune her out while reading his book, grunted noncommittally.

"I haven't had sex in months! Months, Kakashi! I'm dying here!" she ranted, pouting at him. Kakashi's cheeks flushed pink behind his mask, but he had no other reaction than to flip a page in his book."It's not that I'm not hot, is it? Have I grown fat sitting in the office doing paperwork all day? Are my boobs too small?"

Kakashi took his face out of his book for a moment to scan his eyes over Naruto, then turned back to reading, "Nope, you're good."

"Then why can't I land a date?! I thought that all men men wanted was a hot woman to sleep with! Well, I'm hot, and I'm a woman, so why won't they sleep with me?" Naruto poked her drinking partner in the arm, "Kakashi-sensei, you're a man, tell me what's happening!"

"It appears that the men of Konoha have lost their libido," Kakashi said dryly.

"No, that can't be true," Naruto said, Kakashi's sarcasm flying over her head, "Sakura was telling Ino and I just the other day about how she and Sasuke-"

"I'm going to stop you there. You're going into the area of things that I'd rather not know about," he held up his hand the the universal sign for stop.

"Oh, right. Gomen. Anyways, Sai won't stop calling me Tomato. I set him on Tora the demon-cat missions for the next month in revenge. Hey, do you think that I'm putting people off because of my red hair? Or maybe because it's so long?" Naruto questioned, running her hands through her pigtails.

"No. I think your hair is nice," Kakashi said.

"Hm, maybe time for a change in my shampoo," Naruto muttered.

Kakashi pouted. He like the way her hair smelled.

"Oh shit! It's four o'clock already?" Naruto said, jumping out of her stool, "I gotta go, or I'm going to be late for my meeting, dattebayo! Thanks for the talk, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Anytime," Kakashi said, smiling faintly.

Naruto rushed out of the bar, oblivious to the eyes of all the men following her exit.

Neither did she notice Kakashi's Killer Intent spiking, and all of the men looking away in sudden disinterest, nervous sweat pouring off their faces. Though retired, Kakashi was still a terrifying bastard when he wanted to be. Behind his mask, Kakashi smirked.

Naruto, after all, was his.

* * *

"Thanks for inviting me to lunch, Sakura," Naruto said, sitting opposite to Sakura at Sakura's favourite tea house.

"We haven't talked in awhile," Sakura said, "You've been so busy with being Hokage, and I've been so busy with my hospital duties, that I guess we just don't see each other for a bit." Naruto nodded, ignoring the fact that she saw Sakura just two days ago.

"So, what's new with you?" Sakura asked.

"I think that I'm allergic to Kakashi-sensei's cologne," Naruto complained.

"Really? Why do you think that?" Sakura asked with a small frown of confusion on her face.

"I don't know, my insides always feel fluttery and I blush a lot whenever I see him. It gets worse the closer I am to him."

Sakura sharpened her gaze on Naruto in a way that made her feel nervous, "Are you sure it's allergies?"

"Yeah," Naruto said, scratching the back of her head in confusion, "What else could it be?"

Sakura hid her smile behind her napkin. Kakashi didn't wear cologne. Most Shinobi didn't wear scented products, for fear that enemy nin would be able to smell them, a habit Kakashi still carried with him.

Once a Shinobi, always a Shinobi, or so they say, "Oh, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. If it's anything serious, I'm sure Kurama-san will take care of it."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, that's true."

"Lunch is here," Sakura said. The girls descended into comfortable silence while they ate their food.

An hour later, after the two Kunoichi had parted ways, Sakura let out her best fangirl squeal.

She had just found her newest OTP.

* * *

"Dobe," Sasuke greeted.

"Teme," Naruto stuck her tongue out at him as she sat down on the stool beside him. Sakura rolled her eyes at their customary greeting.

They were having their bi-monthly Team Seven get together. Though Sai sometimes joined, he was away for a mission, his first one besides chasing Tora the cat for two months. It was Naruto's turn to chose where to eat, and she, of course, had chosen Ichiraku's ramen stand.

"Naruto-chan!" Ayame greeted with a smile, "You haven't been by for a long time! I was beginning to wonder where you went!"

"Ayame-nee! I know!" Naruto wailed, "I haven't been able to make it since last week! I used to come here every day! So where's the old man? Is he taking the day off?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, he just got a little sick," Ayame waved her worries away, but there was an anxious light behind her eyes, "Kind of you to ask."

"Oh. Tell him I said hi, and tell him to get better, or I'll send Sakura after him!" Naruto threatened, knowing how terrifying Sakura could be.

"I take it you'll have your usual? And you want me to wait for your sensei as well, I suppose," Ayame asked. Naruto nodded vigorously. Ayame smiled fondly at her and disappeared into the back to cook the ramen.

"You used to eat here every day when you were younger?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"Yep! Most of the time twice a day!" Naruto answered with a foxy grin that showed off her sharp canines.

"That is incredibly unhealthy," Sakura frowned, "No wonder you're so short. You must have gotten little to no nutrition when you were young."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted in agreement.

"Blasphemy! Sacrilege!" Naruto gasped, "An insult upon Ramen-sama is an insult to the gods! Nothing can save you from their wrath!" Naruto warned, pointing the chopsticks she had gotten out in preparation for ramen at them.

Sasuke rolled his eyes in exasperation, and Sakura smacked the back of Naruto's head, muttering, "Baka."

"Where's Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, deciding it best to change the subject or incur Sakura's wrath.

"He's probably lost on the road of life," Sasuke rolled his eyes grumpily.

"Or taking the long way around because he crossed paths with a black cat," Sakura agreed.

"Oh," Naruto said, disappointed. She quickly shook it off, "So Kakashi-sensei says that all the men in Konoha must have lost libido. Would either of you happen to have any insight on this?"

Sasuke dropped the chopsticks that he had been holding in shock. Sakura slapped her hands over her mouth to keep in the giggles.

"What?" Sasuke said hoarsely.

"Yeah, I was kinda drunk," she lied, "And I was complaining to him about how I hadn't had any sex or gone on any dates for a while, and he said that all men must have lost their libido."

"Well, that can't be true, because Sasuke and I have an active sex life," Sakura said, laughter in her eyes. She enjoyed the look on Sasuke's face.

"I know! That's what I said, because you were just telling me the day before about that time with the chair," Sasuke started choking on his own spit, "So it must just be the single men then. Maybe it was a jutsu?" Naruto thought aloud.

"Ah, no I'm pretty sure he was joking," Sakura laughed.

"Oh," Naruto frowned, "Then what could it be?"

"I'm sure I have no idea," Sakura said, even though she was pretty sure that Kakashi had something to do with it. That was something for Naruto to figure out on her own.

"Damn," Naruto pouted, "You, Sasuke?"

"Nope," Sasuke rasped, "No idea. Never talk about sex in front of me again."

Naruto tilted her head to the side, confused, "Why not? We're all friends, are we not?"

"It's not that," Sasuke glanced away, "You're like my younger sister. Would you ever talk to Iruka about sex?"

"Iruka-sensei was the one who told me what sex was," Naruto said, staring at Sasuke, "But I wouldn't talk to him about it now. He might go out and kill the poor guy."

Sasuke nodded his head, "Yes, and if you ever talk about the guys you've - well, you know, I'll go out and kill somebody. Or myself."

"Ok, I get it now," Naruto said with an air of understanding. She turned to Sakura, "You never told me that Sasuke was a prude."

Sakura burst into laughter, clutching her sides. Sasuke gaped for a moment, then jumped off his stool, "I am not a prude!" He yelled.

Just as Sasuke finished his sentence, Kakashi appeared and slid into the seat beside Naruto, his book open beneath his nose, "Why are we calling Sasuke a prude?"

Sasuke felt like gripping his hair, "I am not a prude," he explained as patiently as he could, Sakura's laughter only making him angrier, "I just want Naruto to stop talking about sex. Is that so much to ask?"

"Ah," Kakashi said, understanding Sasuke's predicament, "You too, eh?" Then again, the words Naruto and sex set his thoughts on a very different path than Sasuke's, so maybe not.

Naruto pouted, not understanding why Sakura was still laughing, or why Kakashi and Sasuke were trading such looks over her head.

Noticing her unhappy pout, Kakashi grinned at her and set his hand on her head, "It's fine, Naruto, you never change."

Naruto blinked at the sudden explosion of fluttery feelings that exploded in her chest. Then she smiled.

Those fluttery feelings were starting to feel nice.

"Thanks for being two hours late, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said sarcastically.

"Thanks for being two hours late, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said sarcastically.

"Anytime," Kakashi said cheerfully.

* * *

It was a requirement that all of the citizens of Konoha, Shinobi or civilian, to get a flu shot in September. It wouldn't do for there to be an outbreak that incapacitated Konoha's military force, after all.

Not many people knew this, but Naruto had a phobia of needles. It would make little sense to most people, as Naruto was a Kunoichi, the Hokage, and she risked death every day. What was a little needle compared to a kunai?

Naruto could have used her power as the Hokage to opt out of getting one, but then Baa-chan would break her back and make her stay in the hospital a lot more permanent than a needle would. Naruto absolutely hated hospitals. From their smells that had her nose burning, to their blank, white walls, Naruto hated them.

But it was September now, and if she didn't allow Sakura or Baa-chan to break out the needle, they would break her.

So here Naruto was, on the last day of September, in the hospital waiting to be called up along with the rest of the people that put this off. She was clutching the hem of her shirt in a death grip, but that was the only sign of fear that she allowed to show. She had fixed a smile on her face, and waved at the people she knew in the waiting room.

"You know," came Kakashi's voice from the seat beside her, "The phobia of needles is called trypanophobia. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Naruto whirled around to face him, "You weren't there just a minute ago," she accused.

He gave her a look, but allowed the change in subject, "No, I just got here."

She puffed her cheeks out indignantly, knowing that the only reason that Kakashi was able to sneak up on her was because fear had dulled her senses.

"Fine," she said shortly, "I'm terrified of needles. Have been since I was a child and a very hateful nurse came at me with a needle that had anything but the flu shot in it. Happy?"

"Kakashi frowned, "I suspected that the cause of your fear was something along those lines. I wish I wasn't correct."

"Yeah, well," Naruto smiled at the ground bitterly, "What can you do."

"Kakashi gave a bitter smile of his own, "Not much."

"Anyways," Naruto said shaking off any sign of anger or fear, "I'm still waiting for that mission report from two years ago that you always put off giving to me, Kakashi-sensei. You better get it in to me soon."

"Kakashi flushed slightly at her unconscious innuendo, but sighed and nodded, "Alright, Hokage-sama. I'll get it hand it in tomorrow."

"Uzumaki Naruto," the nurse at the front of the room called.

"Naruto bit her lip, hesitantly standing. Kakashi gazed at her intently as she walked away. To his surprise, she turned around and walked right back up to him.

Her cheeks were flushed an adorable shade of red, and she faced the ground as she shuffled her feet.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "Yes, Naruto? You need anything?"

She scrunched her nose and mumbled, "Can you come in with me?"

"What was that?" Kakashi asked, leaning forward, "I couldn't hear you," they both knew he could.

"Nevermind," Naruto snapped, "It doesn't matter."

She stormed off. Kakashi, feeling slightly guilty for being such a dick, got up and followed her. He caught up to her quickly, his long legs overtaking her shorter ones.

"What?" she barked.

"You can't expect me to allow my Hokage to face her biggest fear alone, can you?" he asked. His eye found hers, and she understood that he was trying to apologize.

Her lips fought to smile, and she made a valiant effort to hold it back, "No, I don't suppose I can."

"Kakashi?"

"Hm?"

"You tell anybody about this, and I'll put you on teaching first year academy students for a whole year."

"Of course, Hokage-sama."

"Oh, and Kakashi?"

"Yes?"

""Thank-you."

Her hand found his, and he squeezed it in reassurance when he realized that it was trembling in fear, "Anytime."

* * *

Naruto wasn't good at emotions, but she knew sadness. Sadness was (they hate me, they hurt me, why do the hate me) and (why don't I have any friends, why don't they like me, lonely, I'm lonely, lonely, lonely).

It was (demon, that's why, I'm a demon) and (gone gone, gone, Jiji is gone, gone, gone, will never see him again.

It was (Sasuke, why did you go, first friend, best friend, where did you go) and (he didn't have to die, he had a family, why did I kill him, I must be the demon they call me).

And now, it was (dead, dead, dead, only person nice to me back then, ramen, dead, sudden, ill, poor Ayame, poor Teuchi, like an uncle, dead).

The old man used to tell her stories about her parents, as her mother and father used to love ramen as much as she did. He would tell her about their first date at Ichiraku's, how her father proposed to her mother there, he told her stories about the old Team 7, their daily lunches at his stand.

She had locked herself in her apartment for a week, not accepting any visitors except for Ayame, who stayed with her for two days straight, and Shikamaru, who dropped off all of her paperwork. She got all of it done, using the work to distract herself from the aching emptiness she felt.

Ichiraku Teuchi was her first precious person, before Ayame, before Jiji, before Iruka-nii.

There was a knock at her door, and Kakashi's soft voice made it's way to her ears, "Naruto, open up. It's Kakashi."

"Go away," Naruto yelled. But she was lying on her her stomach on couch, face buried in a pillow, so it came out more like, "Gooo arayyy."

Then came the sound of the door opening and closing. Footsteps leading up the the couch where Naruto lay. She didn't even need to lift her face out of the pillow to know that Kakashi had picked her lock. So she didn't, only grumbling intelligible things into her pillow.

Kakashi sighed. He picked her legs up so he could sit on her couch and placed them on his lap.

"They're holding the funeral next week, you know," Kakashi tried.

Naruto moved her pillow out of the way, instead cushioning her head in her arms. Kakashi figured that this was progress.

"Know that," Naruto mumbled.

"Are you going?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah," Naruto said, "I'm going to try to get drunk after. I don't think it's going to work. Kurama doesn't let me get drunk."

Kakashi smiled thinly, "I know. You're good at acting, Naru-chan, but I'm better at reading people."

"Well, if anybody's going to know, it better be you," Naruto said, "You won't do anything when I do something spectacularly stupid while I'm fake drunk. You'd probably laugh."

"I have laughed," Kakashi said. He quickly scanned her apartment, looking for a change in the subject, "You have a lot of paperwork lying around."

"I've finished it all," Naruto said, explaining, "It's here to distract me from - from," she didn't quite know what set her off, but Naruto burst into tears, her sobs wracking her frame. Kakashi gathered her up in his arms, making soothing noises.

Great, he thought to himself, you just had to ask about the paperwork. You know that people, even Naruto, use work to distract themselves, you baka.

"H-he was the first shopkeeper who didn't throw me out of his place, you know?" Naruto sniffled, trying to explain why this man meant so much to her. Kakashi stayed silent, allowing her to speak.

Not knowing what else to do, he rubbed comforting circles on her back, "I was six, and I can remember everything so clearly. I had just been thrown out of the orphanage, and I didn't - I didn't know what to do, or where to go. I hardly even know what the Hokage did let alone who he was. Then there was this man, and he looked at me like I was there, like I was a person, a human being. And I must of been a complete mess, because he invited me into his stand for ramen. I think he knew who my parents were all along, because he was always telling me how much I looked like my mother, and how I had my father's eyes after I was allowed to tell people who I my parents were. I'll never know now, because he's gone!"

This brought along another round of tears, and Kakashi hardly knew what to do anymore. Wouldn't Sakura be better for this? Or any other of Naruto's innumerable friends? Kakashi just wasn't good at words. He was better suited for assassinations and black ops.

"Thank you - thank you for being here, Kakashi," Naruto said through her tears.

Kakashi pressed his cheek to her head, "Anytime."

* * *

Kakashi was decided. Naruto looked terrible sad. Well, that wasn't exactly true. She looked beautiful, as always. The sad look that she wore just looked unnatural on her face. He wanted to put a radiant smile on there instead.

The funeral was filled with people dressed in black, as they usually were. Kakashi didn't know most of the people, but Naruto, who was standing with Ayame, who was standing between her and Lee, greeted them by their first names, so he figured that she knew all of them.

Kakashi wasn't all close to the old man. After Minato and Kushina had died, he had seen little reason to go back to the ramen stand. That is, until Naruto forced him to go. He resented her for that, for a while. For those little reminders that she always brought up of her parents. He got over it, and he came to care for her because of who she was instead of who her parents were.

Sasuke and Sakura were there as well. Sakura had probably forced Sasuke to come along to show support for their friend. They were good kids. No, that wasn't it. They weren't exactly kids anymore.

They were good teammates. Good friends.

Kakashi turned his attention onto Lee. He was unusually somber. He wore something besides that god awful green spandex, and he supposed that if there was anything good about this funeral, that would be it. He wasn't yelling about the Springtime of Youth for once.

There was nothing Youthful about death, after all.

He returned his gaze to Naruto. She hadn't broken down yet, which was more than he could say for Ayame, but he knew that once this was over, she would let out all of the emotions that she had been hiding here. He couldn't help but wish that he could be there for her when she did break down.

"You know, Kakashi-sensei, if you want to be less obvious about the fact that you love Naruto, you should stop staring at her," Sakura's voice said from beside him.

Kakashi controlled any sign of shock that he might have shown had he any less experience of hiding his emotions.

"Maa, Sakura-chan, what are you talking about?" Kakashi chuckled. Sakura gave him a flat glare. His shoulders slumped, "I wouldn't quite say love… Am I that transparent?"

"No," Sakura turned her head to look at Naruto, "I was just looking for it."

"Eh," Kakashi scratched the back of his neck, "Can I ask why?"

"No," Sakura said bluntly.

Kakashi sighed.

"You know," Sakura mused, "I think she loves you too."

"Don't tease your old sensei like that, Sakura-chan," Kakashi said after a moment, "It's not nice."

Sakura sighed, "You know what? I'll just let her tell you herself."

Kakashi opened his mouth to express his confusion, but Sakura walked forward a few steps, and opened her arms to engulf someone in a hug.

That someone happened to be Naruto. Kakashi felt his eyes widen, and he felt like a total idiot. What was that about Kakashi being a genius and a legendary Shinobi again?

"Hey, Naruto, how're you holding up? You know it'll be okay, right?" Sakura asked, placing her hands on her friend's shoulders.

Naruto gave her a wan smile, "I'll be fine." Sakura nodded and walked back over to Sasuke.

Naruto stood beside Kakashi, staring at the coffin that held Teuchi. Kakashi kept his eyes on Naruto, examining all of the emotions that in her eyes that her composed face wouldn't allow.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto finally said, after everybody except for the closest family and friends had cleared out.

"Yes, Naruto?" Kakashi answered.

"Thanks for allowing me to grieve in silence. Everybody wanted to talk to me and tell me that it would be okay. Thank you for not doing that."

"Anytime," Kakashi said in a sombre tone.

* * *

Naruto stared up at him, looking very, very innocent.

Kakashi came to the conclusion that she had either messed up bigtime and had started a war, or he had caught her in the middle of playing a prank.

From the smudge of paint on her cheeks, he felt safe with the assumption that it was the latter.

Kakashi almost breathed a sigh of relief. He was too old for another war.

"Ne, Kakashi? What're you doing here?" Naruto asked giving him her most angelic look.

"I thought you stopped pranking when you became the Hokage, Naruto," Kakashi sighed, leaning against the wall beside Naruto.

Naruto gave him a horrified look, "One does not simply stop pranking! Pranking is an art, a science! It's a way of life!"

At his deadpan look, Naruto sighed and settled back down beside him, "Okay, maybe I got a little bored with all the paperwork," she admitted.

Kakashi sent her an amused look, "So, what was it this time?"

"Well, the window in my office gives me a full view of the Hokage Monument, and you see, I was looking at it, and I realized how boring it was. I mean, it's supposed to be a memorial to all the Hokage besides Danzo, and it's just stone. It's not even colourful or anything!" Naruto flapped her arms, "So, I made up my mind. I got a whole bunch of paint and I defaced the Hokage monument in the late hours of the night."

Kakashi blinked at her, "You what?"

"I painted the Hokage Monument," Naruto declared, "It looks much better now. And the paint is permanent too!"

"Naruto!" Kakashi yelped.

"Your reactions are always so funny, Kakashi," Naruto snickered, "I didn't do anything too bad. Somebody should've thought of this ages ago."

"I'd have to see it to believe it," Kakashi scoffed. Naruto was such a notorious prankster, it was hard to believe that she pulled her punches. Even with the Hokage Monument. She definitely didn't the last time she defaced it.

Naruto jumped up with her usual enthusiasm, and cried out, "Well, come on then, Kakashi! You've got to see what I did! You're going to love it!"

Naruto grabbed his hand and hauled him off the ground. She dragged him off to the Hokage monument at a faster pace than he would have otherwise taken, but he enjoyed the feeling of her hand in his.

Once they cleared the taller buildings, Kakashi marveled at the large crowd gathered around the base of the Hokage Monument. He frowned in puzzlement. He couldn't see anything on the faces of the Hokage.

Then his eyes travelled down and landed on large red words painted neatly below each of the faces. He could easily read them from a distance. Below his read, Those in the ninja world who break the rules are scum, that's true… but those who abandon their friends… are lower than scum. And even below that was written, Behind this mask is… another mask! Pretty cool, huh?

It was the same for the rest of the Hokage heads. They had two quotes, one inspirational and one silly.

All of them except for Naruto's. The area beneath her stone head was blank, just waiting to be filled with her own words of wisdom and humor. He didn't need to ask why she didn't write her own words. The words that impacted others the most wasn't up to her to decide, and she may not not have spoken them yet (though he found it hard to believe that Naruto could ever get any more inspirational than she had in the past few years).

"So," Naruto prompted after waiting impatiently for a few minutes, "What do you think, Kakashi?"

Kakashi tore his eyes away from the monument for a moment to look at the woman. A warm feeling filled him unexpectedly.

Love.

Hatake Kakashi was in love with Uzumaki Naruto.

Kushina would brutally murder him then bring him back to life so Minato could have a turn. And that was only after he died. He shudders to think what would happen if Tsunade, or worse, Iruka found out.

His lips quirked up in a smile, and he let out a full blown laugh that startled Naruto.

"You've have definitely earned the title as the Most Unpredictable Kunoichi, Naruto."

He traced his fingers gently along the side of her face, then cupped her face with his left hand. Naruto looked up at him with innocently curious eyes. Her lips were strangely void of a smile. Instead they were parted in a way that did strange things to him.

"I'm glad you like it," Naruto whispered, as if talking any louder would cause the moment to end.

Kakashi used his free hand to trace the top of his mask. Naruto followed the movement of his fingers eagerly. He chuckled and dropped his hand. No. He couldn't do this to her. It would be cruel, like kicking a puppy.

He closed his eyes and made to leave, bitter disappointment filling him.

"Wait!" Naruto cried, "Why are you leaving?"

It sounded like a don't leave me.

Kakashi turned his head so he wasn't looking at her, but not quite looking away either, "You've grown, Naruto. You've grown so much, into such a beautiful woman. A great Kunoichi, a wonderful Hokage and an even better person. But I can't do this to you. I'm damaged goods."

A hand reached out and gripped his own, and he turned to Naruto in surprise. Her full lips were pressed together and her eyes were shining with determination, "So am I. So is everybody else in this village. But you don't see me going to anybody else with my secrets, my weaknesses. I - I think I love you."

"Taking him completely by surprise Naruto ripped off his mask and forcefully brought his lips down to her own. A minute later, they parted, panting heavily.

Naruto glared at him, "So get this 'damaged goods', idea out of your thick head and tell me why you have been scaring all those guys away from me and not doing anything with me in the meantime, will you?"

Instead, Kakashi brought his lips back down on hers, leaving both of them even more air deprived than they had been before.

"Okay, that's it," Naruto started off at a run, and lept across three buildings before Kakashi regained the state of mind to follow her.

"Where are you going?" he yelled.

"I'm making up for three months of celibacy!" Naruto yelled back in her usual blunt manner, "Are you coming or not?"

Kakashi's eyes shot open, and he shot off in the direction of Naruto's house.

He didn't even have to say anytime.


End file.
